Lore Races Ultra Mod

[Vagrant0]

I havn't been keeping as close of tabs on the community as I probably should, but these things happen. Anyway, for some time now I've been bugged by the fact that there isn't one single, multi-race, all-purpose race mod out there which is .esm based (and therefore can be used directly by other mods). Such a mod may have been created since I last looked, and if so, feel free to point me in the right direction. Since this is something which would benefit a great deal of people, and isn't an easy undertaking due to all the hassles of locating and getting permissions for various resources, I wanted to see what interest there was for such a mod, and if people would be willing to help do some of the leg (finger) work involved in locating quality mods and getting permission to re-incorporate those mods into a large collection.

 

Since there are literally hundreds of race mods out there, the one main limitation to all this is that the race to be added to the package needs to be something which is either mentioned somewhere in TES Lore as a humanoid race, or is a race which actually makes sense as a part of TES lore. For example, skyrim khajiit would be accepted, but Tokien-esque Dwarves would not.

 

The second limitation is that the race needs to be unique or of sufficiently high quality in both their definitions (history, powers, ect), and their appearance. For example, Ainmhi would be accepted since it is both a race which fits well enough with lore, and has a unique enough appearance and abilities, but Neon Elves would not since they don't have a history which makes sense, don't have a unique appearance, and are just a race with a recolored skin.

 

The third limitation is that the race cannot require OBSE or a custom skeleton to work. OBSE is out simply because there are many who don't know how, or can't install it properly, and making it required for a compilation like this would diminish some of the purpose behind making such a mod. Custom skeletons are out for a similar reason as well as various issues related to conflicts with other skeletons, animation permissions, and other stuff I'd rather not deal with.

 

 

Now, some of you may be jumping up and down looking for a link to Beautiful People, or similar compilations to throw at me and say "already done", so again I must stress that the whole purpose of this mod is to create a single, viable .esm for use with other mods, and while Beautiful People and similar are good, popular mods, they are also not resources, and cannot be used within other mods without rebuilding the race within that mod, or using deisolation. Beautiful People is also a mod with a few technical flaws related to how its loaded (missing hairs, google eyes, ect), and hasn't really been expanded upon formally.

 

My goal here is to rebuild definitions and everything within the mod from scratch (new form IDs) and to create it in a way that it can both be added to, and that it is less prone to problems. Being a .esm however, it cannot change any of the vanilla areas or dialogues (new voices for a race), but new eyes, hairs, races, powers are well within what can be used. Although I'd also like to be able to incorporate wigs into the mix (provided the resources are cleared), the method of adding these wigs to the game would need to be script based. Ultimately, I would like to have a mod which could be regarded as a race expansion which can be used by both modders and players alike.

 

The problem however is this. While I may be in high regard by some, I really don't have much knowledge of what exactly is out there, and would probably go crazy in trying to track down all the modders and secure their permissions to incorporate their works into a larger one (with credit). For this, I am really calling upon the community to help me out. I can handle all the CS and actual building of the mod, but those aspects mentioned are really what has prevented me from going forward. If interested in helping, please, PLEASE, do everyone a favor and hold off on harassing popular modders. Instead post a link to their mod here, and provide any contact information you might have about that person (if it is not evident on the mod page).

 

If the mod author is someone who does not have decent English skills, I may require assistance of a translator. If the author is not known, or has no means of being contacted, the mod cannot be used unless uploaded, free and clear, as a resource. Needless to say, mods containing any ripped, stolen, or illegal content will also be rejected. Depending on the number and type of responses here, I may request one or two to contact an author on my behalf to explain the purpose of the project and to link here, but must again stress that authors do NOT get contacted for this project unless by me or someone I ask. The last thing any of us wants is an author getting angry over being contacted by everyone, or getting harassed because they refused to allow their work to be used in a project like this.

 

I fully accept that some mod authors do not want their work incorporated into other mods, or are no longer in the community to answer to any requests for permission. As such, I must insist that these people's wishes are respected.

 

This is not a thread for you to request races. The mod and resources need to already exist.

 

The reason why I'm approaching it from a "lore friendly" perspective, as opposed to being open or strictly lore is to provide some limitation to what sorts of races I think most would want to use, while not being so restrictive that it becomes boring and marginally useless compared to vanilla races. Once again, the point of this mod is not simply so that the player can be of one of these races, but also so that modders can use these races to create NPCs and companions of those races without having to rebuild, re-upload, or otherwise do extra work to make those NPCs and companions work.

 

 

Since this is technically a wall of text and people may not read the whole thing, I'll summarize.

 

-Why this mod idea?

=To create a standardized set of races and resources which can be used quickly and easily by both player and modder.

 

-What is wanted?

=Links to lore friendly race/hair/eye mods which you would like to see included in a standardized set of races contained in a single masterfile for easy use.

=A way to get in contact or otherwise get approval for using an authors resources in a compilation mod.

=Non-Transferable Permissions to re-upload resources and include content from selected race/hair/eye mods for use in a compilation without fear or concern of those resources being pulled or blocked at a later date.

 

-What is NOT wanted?

=Suggestions for races which are not already made

=Links to race/hair/eye mods which are of low quality or do not belong within the world of TES.

=Links to race/hair/eye mods which specifically state that they do not want their work to be used as part of a compilation.

=Links to anything related to ripped, stolen, or illegal resources.

 

-Why not do all this yourself you lazy male without a father?

=Don't have all the time and skill to re-create some of those wonderful mods out there, and praise and credit should be given where it is due.

=Don't have the time and familiarity with all those race mods out there to know not only what exists, but what is also good.

=Because I think a project which is aimed at providing something to the community might as well involve the community.

[Ranokoa]

I got passed the wall of text and stopped reading the tiny hurdle summary. I felt that I climbed enough and deserve a break from the ant hill.

 

I'll do your fingerleg work, my good friend. I just wish you can take into consideration that I can only use the internet, on average, once per day, normally in the 0 hours, but when I do I do have sufficient time. Mentioning this because you may be impatient about my response time if you don't know why.

 

Anyways, I'll go looking around, compile a list, look into that list and do a little crossing out myself, download the files, see how they are made so that I know they do not use anything that you don't want, look at author Last Login to ensure that I don't ask anyone that likely won't respond for a year or so, (if they are still even alive... Makes me wonder how many Nexus members are deceased.) and then give you a list of names next to mods so you can tell me which ones I should contact for permission and which ones not to, in case there are any that you do not want that are on my list before I do so.

 

Of course, due to the fact I'll need to download, I'll have to get off my procrastinating a.. and put my computer in the living room where there is internet access (Which will be a yay that I won't have to deal with laptops anymore... grr..) and etc. (Actually that would mean that my response time would be better too.)

 

It seems like this would only take a couple of hours of work.. well.. maybe 1 or 2.. per day for a week or two to compile a pretty good quality list.

 

But then again, considering the fact I'll have to wait for permission from everyone, I do not think you expect this to take less than a month in total.

 

Tell me what you think, my friend. I can organize everything pretty well in order to ensure that I get everything together without getting lost and mixing things together, etc etc. I'm babbling.

 

Be well, sleep well, fight well, live long and I am so glad I'm not the only one who has trouble not elaborating an instruction manual to creating thermonuclear reactions when posting.

 

~Ranokoa

[VileTouch]

hmmm... when i read this the name "Cobl Races" inmediatly spang to my mind... it has most of the features you suggest, and (afaik) none of the drawbacks you wish to avoid. besides it's an ongoing project meant to be used as a resource by both modders and players alike... it does lack variety, but i think if you were to make a race compilation, improving upon that one would be the way to go...unless you really want to reinvent the wheel over and over again

[Ranokoa]

Forgot to mention, with certain languages I would be able to translate enough to ask for permission to those mods that are not in English. And apparently I missed something about COBL being mentioned, and am completely unwilling to reread to find out what. Can you tell me your intentions on COBL?

[Vagrant0]

hmmm... when i read this the name "Cobl Races" inmediatly spang to my mind... it has most of the features you suggest, and (afaik) none of the drawbacks you wish to avoid. besides it's an ongoing project meant to be used as a resource by both modders and players alike... it does lack variety, but i think if you were to make a race compilation, improving upon that one would be the way to go...unless you really want to reinvent the wheel over and over again

I was not aware that Cobl had expanded to include races, so thanks for bringing it up. The two problems with Cobl races that I can see is first, as you said, it lacks diversity, and second it requires installing and using all the other stuff just to make use of the races. In having a large package of races which are entirely on their own, it can be updated and supported more directly and not require installing other components.

 

I would prefer not to reinvent the wheel, but short of Wyre letting me join the Cobl team and expand upon the race portion as a stand-alone, it might be necessary. As the selection of races would far less strict, and probably irk Lore Nazis, this probably isn't even an option.

[Ranokoa]

Just woke up, its 1730 and internet is slow. When I wake up more I'll start on this.